An introduction to Levidian graphene agent LEAP Global Services

We work with trusted and carefully selected partners throughout the world to distribute Levidian graphene.

One such partner is LEAP Global Services (LGS), led by Director Trond Gjelsten. LGS is the agent representative for Levidian graphene across Scandinavia.

Levidian has a long-standing relationship with LGS and has worked directly with Trond for several years, both as Levidian and under our previous name, Cambridge Nanosystems.

In this Q&A, Trond talks about our partnership and what made LGS want to become an agent for Levidian graphene.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Trond. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what LGS does?

I have over 20 years’ experience in business development and management, primarily across the EMEA and APAC regions. I’ve worked across a diverse range of sectors, including telecoms, videoconferencing, infrastructure, medtech, and financial services. I’ve also specialised in corporate consultancy. Prior to this I spent 10 years in the Norwegian Navy as an officer and navigator.

In recent years, LGS has focused on supporting start-ups and helping them to become profitable companies. With Levidian, LGS has been focusing on developing application areas for the unique qualities that Levidian graphene has to offer.

Can you talk about how your relationship with Levidian came to be and how the partnership works today?

I’ve worked with Levidian for many years, and the relationship goes back to when the company was known as Cambridge Nanosystems. At this time, I supported with packaging the product, and liaising with manufacturing customers who could benefit from using graphene to improve their products.

It was a challenging time, since many had already had experience using other products labelled as graphene, but these were materials like micro graphite instead, and hence they were not seeing the advantages that high quality graphene can deliver.

Today, LGS are the dedicated representatives for Levidian graphene across Scandinavia. Our role is still to work closely with industrial players across the region to test and further improve their product performance through the addition of Levidian’s graphene. We establish new business relationships with global manufacturers in a range of industries that could benefit from using graphene in their processes and end products.      

What was it that made you want to partner with Levidian specifically?

We’ve been excited about Levidian’s product for a long time now. The industry has historically struggled to differentiate the highest quality graphene. This is not only about the key physical characteristics of the graphene, but also factors that can reduce application performance and adaptability in terms of batch variance, supply capability, and purity.

For example, where graphene is produced through the top-down exfoliation of graphite, there is residue of every chemical compound that has been used in the separation process. Not knowing the level of this residue can hamper some of the application performance. Other examples include particles with too many graphene layers, and of course the extensive processes needed to reduce batch variance.

“If LGS can contribute to these efforts in some small way, we would consider it a success.”

Luckily, the Levidian team have solved these issues. By not using exfoliation to produce graphene, their product is very pure, and through their patented continuous production process, Levidian graphene is of the highest consistency batch after batch. Levidian offers a superior product, and their technology is an example of the highest quality graphene that can be produced at high volume.

Then of course there are the environmental benefits. Levidian’s graphene is created from methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Levidian cracks methane into graphene and hydrogen. The process results in a reduction in methane emissions and is one that uses considerably less electricity than hydrogen production from electrolysis, for example.

Their technology is helping industries to reduce their CO2 emissions and become greener on the road to net zero, whilst producing two useful products. If LGS can contribute to these efforts in some small way, we would consider it a success.

What are the opportunities in your region that businesses should speak to you about when it comes to Levidian graphene?

We’re working with manufacturers throughout the region to understand and realise the benefits of utilising Levidian graphene in their processes and products.

By adding even small quantities of graphene, applications such as batteries, composite materials, plastics, coatings, and more can be enhanced and improved. For example, in plastics, the addition of graphene can result in significantly higher strengths, impact resistance, and improved heat transfer. In coatings, graphene can result in anti-corrosion benefits, abrasion resistance, and can help to create custom coatings to replace copper heating panels. These are just some of the examples of the possibilities of graphene. We are also working on several novel ways of using the hydrogen produced by LOOP to reduce CO2 emissions from energy-intensive applications that cannot use batteries for various reasons.

Finally, how do you see the market for graphene developing over the next few years?

As more applications and products are created that incorporate Levidian graphene, I believe we will see an exponential growth in interest from manufacturers in the coming years. I would be very surprised if global, high-quality graphene sales are not 10-20 times larger than now within five years’ time.

I am very optimistic for the next few years, expecting graphene to go from a much talked about ‘wonder material’ to widespread adoption in products across the market. We’ve already started on that journey now and I’m excited to see where we are in a few years’ time.

If you’d like to speak to LGS about graphene opportunities across Scandinavia, please visit leapglobal.com.